The 50s Ranch House – Our Completed Kitchen!

Posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2014.

This is our kitchen! It’s all done! Do you remember what it looked like last time I showed pictures? Take a look here for a walk down memory lane (and this is where we started when we first bought the house – oy vey!).

I’m really happy with the way it all turned out. We had originally planned on putting up shelves all around the kitchen, on all the walls, but once we had been living here a while we decided to only put shelves up on the back wall for a couple of reasons. For one, we had gotten used to not having any storage above the counters and realized we didn’t actually need the space as much as we had once thought. Living with less, that’s been our theme (and it’s felt so good!). Secondly, we really felt like it would keep the kitchen feeling more open if we kept the other walls bare. And that open feeling was very important to us.

The floating shelves were a bit of an “issue.” Our first contractor wouldn’t do what I wanted. He insisted that I HAD to have decorative brackets that would be seen and I had to have a lot of them. This “floating” business was nonsense. (“But it’s all over Pinterest!!” I said. He stood his ground.) In a weak moment, I gave in, spent $200 on decorative brackets, painted them, and decided I would just have to settle. Later when I fired him (for other reasons), I realized that he was just stubborn and didn’t want to listen to me and decided I was gonna get my floating shelves, come hell or high water. So, tossing out $200 worth of un-returnable brackets because they had been painted, we bought different brackets. Ones that could be totally hidden in the drywall and shelf itself. And hired someone else that got my vision.

I didn’t document exactly what we did, but I can try to explain it for anyone else who’s curious. I bought 10″ corner braces like these, had the guys cut away the drywall at the studs and screw the braces directly on the studs. Then, for the shelves which are 12″ deep by 1.5″ thick solid wood, I had them trace on the shelf where the bracket would go, then use a router and route out a depth of about .25″ so the bracket would be flush with the shelf. Once everything was screwed in on both the wall and the shelf, we plastered over the stud/bracket with drywall compound, and did the same on the shelf with wood putty. Slap a coat of paint on both, and bam. Floating shelves. This tutorial helped me understand how to do the wall part and we just figured out the shelf part ourselves. I am SO glad I got these floating shelves in the end, even if I had to wait a while. Even losing the $200 was worth it.

The shelves are decorative, yes, but it does store items I use quite frequently. All the jars have dry goods I use a lot, like beans, rice, dried fruit, nuts, oatmeal, etc. And my mixing bowls are there too. Everything else I can’t reach without hopping up on the counter, so that’s all pretty stuff that I won’t be getting down much.

I love how open the kitchen is to the rest of the house. When I’m cooking, Parker can be pretty much anywhere in the house and I can still talk to him. And when guests come over, they sit at the bar while I prep food. We can even have a group in the living room and I can still be a part of the conversation.

Just a note about the Whirlpool White Ice appliances we have: we love them. The fridge and freezer are really spacious, the stove top is solid and has five burners, the oven has a rapid preheat option which comes in really handy and the dishwasher holds more than any other dishwasher I’ve ever seen. For the water dispenser in the front of the fridge, you can choose how much water to fill your glass and walk away while it fills. That’s nice, we use it all the time. We would buy these again in a heartbeat. Also, I like that they’re white, but they don’t have that texture that most white appliances have. It’s smooth like plexi or something. The only thing I don’t like about them is that I feel like I have to push the buttons (er, non-buttons) really hard sometimes.

It was important to me that I display my jadeite and vintage blue mason jars. I started collecting them for our wedding (one of those jadeite cake stands held our wedding cake!) and they still hold sentimental value to me. I have (lots) of other treasures that didn’t make the cut this round, but I plan on switching things out and moving pieces around as my mood changes and I get tired of looking at the same things.I had regrets about the insulator lights that I first hung from the very beginning (here’s a closeup of what they looked like), so I finally just took them down and built these instead. I found this tutorial online and went about ordering parts to piece together to make my own. They were so cheap and easy – like $20 a piece or less and a couple hours to put all together. I like these so, so much better. They blend a lot better and go with the light fixture hanging over the dining table. The silver dipped Edison bulbs I bought on amazon (these are them).

The countertops were a bit of a trial and error situation. I bought some stain that you just brush or roll on and it had horrible streaks and brush marks. I did two coats before realizing I couldn’t save it. In a fit of rage and frustration, I strapped on a face mask and got to sanding it all down to the bare wood at 10:00 one night. (Tip: if this ever happens to you, have a shop vac so you can vaccum down every single possible surface because there was dust every.where. I’m still finding saw dust actually.) Anyway, I bought a much better stain, Minwax Gel Stain in Walnut, that you brush on thick, let it sit, then wipe it all away. No brush strokes, just gorgeous, saturated color. One coat and it was perfect. We sealed it with some polyurethane (about 5 coats) and now they are durable and I don’t worry too much about them getting messed up with water or food.

So do I have anything that I would change if I could go back from the beginning? A couple of things, maybe. Nothing huge that bothers me, but the floor wasn’t installed perfectly for one. My tile guy that did my bathroom did such a better job and I wish I had known about him rather than just trusting my contractor at the time. Also, I think I would choose slightly different tile for both the floor and backsplash. Floor & Decor (where I bought our tile) has the best prices in town, but the coloring is a little off what I wish it was. It’s much cooler than the “Dover White” from Sherwin Williams that I painted the whole house so it clashes a bit. It’s not so bad that I’m gonna be painting the whole house anytime soon, but it’s something I notice. Also, I would use just a plain white hex tile on the floor rather than the black flower pattern. But I still like it! Just saying…if I could do it all over again.

So what do you think? I have to say, it feels SO GOOD to have a completed kitchen, where everything has a place, and I don’t have to explain to people when they come over “Oh, it’s not done yet we still have to do this, this, and that…”. It took us a while to get totally finished (almost 6 months!) but it’s done. Yay!

UPDATE: I thought it would be helpful to anyone wanting to undertake a similar renovation to see how much this kitchen cost us. We saved a lot of money buying everything from Ikea, Home Depot, and Overstock, and only “splurged” (if you can even call it that) on appliances. Although I wanted Big Chill appliances that would have cost as much as the entire renovation, so I guess you could say we saved a ton of money there too! Here’s the rough breakdown:

Demolition, including removal of wall: $900

Cabinets: $2,000

Countertops: $700

Installation of cabinets, countertops, appliances, and can lighting: $900

43 Responses to “The 50s Ranch House – Our Completed Kitchen!”

WOW!! What a kitchen!! I totally love the subway tile and white open shelves, it’s gorgeous. The butcher block really warms up the space, great choice. And all the jars just look perfect…may need to add some of those to my floating shelves. Thanks for the link, funny thing is your blog design was mentioned at a conference I attended just last weekend…it was a “best practices” example! Love it.

Really?! How funny! (Hope it was good and not “This is what NOT to do” hahaha!). Thanks for your awesome tutorial, it totally helped me envision what I needed to do in here and helped illustrate to my construction guys. :)

I am DYING over this kitchen! Katy, omg! This is beyond incredible + I am loads jealous. It is so beautiful + I looove how open it is. That’s a huge thing I want for my kitchen too, and you nailed it. The blue mason jars + jadeite pieces looks so beautiful against the white + the wood countertops. Just lovely!

Your kitchen looks great. I love that is is so classic and not overdone at all. It is so easy and nice to look at! I really love it. And I think it was a good choice to switch out the lightbulbs over the counter. The new ones are perfect. It really reminds me a little bit of one of the kitchen’s in “The Help” in a more modern way. Nice work! I know it feels so awesome to finally have it all done.

Katie K

Oh and PS. I LOVE the white appliances. I am not so much a fan of stainless steel and I will have to remember this brand when we are ready for an upgrade. They are prefect!

Oh this is just beautiful! I’m so excited for you! Ive been following along on your home Reno from the very beginning and it is such a joy to see the results! I cannot wait until the day we can finally quit renting and start renovating!

Thank you, Shannon! And I didn’t even try to make it look like spring, but I think I must have been subconsciously inspired by the season because you are absolutely right. I knew I would want to change stuff out, but it makes so much sense to change it out seasonally and let the changing weather play a role in the decor. Thanks for that lightbulb moment! :)

OK.I dare say, it worth all the trouble and frustration! It is very pretty, the happy of simplicity! Love all the details, the pendant lights, the faucet and sink, the floor, the counter top. Impressed. I hope you can now enjoy it :)

Hi Katy, this is a beautiful transformation and very close to what my husband and I will be doing to our ’50s ranch kitchen. My big question (because we’re going to do the same thing)… How did you accomplish the “extra long overhang” with the standard IKEA countertops on the bar? Did you simply glue two of the IKEA countertops together for that section? Thank you! As much detail as possible would be appreciated!

Ikea sells the extra wide counter tops! Or at least they did when we were renovating. It’s a special order item though so your best bet may be to ask one of the kitchen specialists. :) Hope this helps!

WOW – LOVE IT! I’m in love with the jadeite pieces you used to tie the colors together. Question for you – without a pantry (that I can see), where do you store your dry goods and kitchen counter appliances?

There is no pantry and it kinda sucks. I mean, how does a house not have a pantry?! But that’s just a quirk with this house and honestly it’s not that bad. Ikea has the best storage solutions so you would be shocked at what all fits under there. Our pantry items are under the bar on the left side – that opens up to reveal two huge pivot-and-pull-out shelves and there are some overflow items (bulky cereal boxes and frequently used things) in a drawer by the stove. On both sides of the fridge are lazy Susan’s that turn a full 360 degrees. To the left is casserole dishes and serving dishes, wine glasses, all my vinegars/oils/honey/etc for cooking, my tea kettle, and a bowl for onions and garlic. To the right are my pots and pans, blender and food processor, random storage containers, waffle iron, pressure cooker. The only thing that doesn’t fit is my crockpot which I store in a hall closet. I will try to do a post showing where things fit because it’s quite impressive.

I’m so glad it helps! I was right there with you feeling like “why doesn’t anyone share real numbers?!” I think it’s hard for people to understand how much these things cost but it all adds up. It sounds like a lot of money, but we tried to be as budget conscious as possible, believe it or not!

Thank you for sharing this, we have a similar kitchen in the house we just bought, our budget for renovating it is $10K. We also have to demo a wall to open it up. Thanks for letting us know the breakdown of costs, it will be our guide. Right now we are getting costs from 3 kitchen/bath remodeling companies. However we will not need to purchase appliances or a new floor, and may be able to paint the existing cabinets.

Beautifully done! Love all your jars–but I have to laugh–I have those anchor hocking jars–I bought 4, 1-gallon jars 30 years ago for $1.00 each! Still using 3 of them (1 broke), everyone who sees them are jealous that I got them so cheaply!

Please don’t worry about the wall color not matching the tiles perfectly. Your kitchen is stunning. IMHO, if the color matched perfectly, it wouldn’t have as much texture and interest, and it’d be a little flat. You made great choices. My kitchen is in a similar “all sorts of sad” state and I’m looking forward to fixing it smartly. Like you, I’m having trouble finding a contractor who gets my vision (that made me smile!) and isn’t living in some high-end $100K kitchen land… Sigh… Persistence. Your example is very inspiring. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks so much for posting the cost details- I want to start getting ideas of how much my budget-dream kitchen is going to be, and it’s nice to have an idea of potential costs. Your kitchen came out beautifully- congratulations on finishing (I know you finished almost a year ago, but still)!

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Love it! Did you make the countertop yourself? I see that you finished it yourself. We are wanting something similar. Love all the white as well. Helped us decide to go with white appliances over stainless.

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